How to Reduce Your Injection Mold Cost？

Injection molding can be expensive, but there are ways to reduce the investment and per-part costs. These tips include: Optimising your mold design and removing unnecessary features, using a lean manufacturing process, and using economies of scale. These techniques will reduce your overall cost, without compromising the quality of your product.

Optimising the mold design

One of the best ways to reduce the cost of your injection mold is to optimise the design. A lean mold uses less material and has fewer features, which can lead to a faster cycle time and lower material costs. Optimising the mold design can also reduce your mold making process costs by providing a greater degree of structural integrity and strength. However, this approach is not suitable for all applications as thinner walls can lead to weak parts that are more likely to break.

The design of the mold is essential to reduce your mold costs, as it is one of the main components of the production process. For example, a simple plastic piece can be moulded in a mold, with multiple cavities. This allows a manufacturer to produce many pieces within the same machine cycle, thus reducing overall production time.

Another important feature of a good mold is the ability to eject the plastic product as quickly as possible. This can be achieved with the use of air blast, rods, or plates. As each second in the injection molding process is a significant amount of money, it is vital to design the mold in such a way that the process is as fast and smooth as possible.

Undercut features may complicate the ejection process and may increase your cost. However, if you can avoid having undercuts, it will reduce your tooling costs and reduce your time. Other options include changing the parting line and the draft angles. These can make it easier to build a mold and reduce your tooling cost. Other nice-to-have features include injection moulded parts numbers, company logos, and textured surfaces.

Removing unnecessary features

Reducing the number of unnecessary features on your product is a great way to reduce the cost of your mold. Features like textured surfaces and molded part numbers aren’t necessary for most designs, and they just add extra polymer resin. Some consumers prefer these aesthetic features, but they’re not necessary for your product. Leaving them can add to your mold’s cost, and reduce your profit margin.

Investing in a simpler mold design is another way to reduce your costs. A simpler mold design makes production runs simpler and more affordable. If you’re designing a plastic part, try removing any features that aren’t necessary for its function. This can be difficult to do, especially if your product has been finished, but it will save you a substantial amount of money. You should be aware that changes to your design may also affect material selection and the manufacturing process.

Features such as undercuts or draft angles may hinder the injection process, which can cost a lot of time and material. By eliminating undercuts, you can reduce your mould’s tooling costs and reduce the overall manufacturing cost of the part. Other features that can be removed from a mold are textured surfaces, company logos, and moulded part numbers. Apart from these, removing unnecessary features will reduce the overall cost of the part.

Another way to reduce your injection mold cost is to simplify the design. Avoid complicated features that complicate the process. By making the design as simple as possible, you can cut the number of mold cavities and make it easier to manufacture. By doing this, you can also reduce the number of parts that need to be molded. This way, the initial cost of machining can be spread out over many parts.
Using a lean manufacturing process

Injection molding is a process that allows you to mass-produce large quantities of plastic or metal parts. Using a lean manufacturing process can make this process much more efficient. It will reduce your production set-up time and overall cost. It will also improve the aesthetics of your workspace, which can boost employee morale.

First, you need to identify areas of waste in your manufacturing process. Lean manufacturing emphasizes eliminating waste and inefficient procedures. It requires the molder to consider the customer’s perspective and eliminate those elements that do not add value to the customer. This approach helps molders cut costs by improving cycle times and lead times.

Another effective way to reduce your injection mold cost is to redesign the mold to use less material. A more efficient design will use less material, which reduces material costs and cycle time. It will also increase the strength of the plastic. It is also important not to add too many features. Overdoing it will only cut into your profit margin.

Lean manufacturing is an approach that involves implementing the principles of the Toyota Production System. Its principles were developed at MIT and are well documented. While several different lean systems are available, they are all based on a similar philosophy. When implemented in a mold manufacturing process, the application of lean principles can result in a highly efficient plastic injection molding process. As with any manufacturing process, lean principles require resources and strict quality control.

Another approach to reduce injection mold cost is to redesign the mold and design it intelligently. This will reduce the number of scraps in the molding process. This approach will allow for significant mold size reductions and smaller press operations, which will reduce overall cost per part.

Using economies of scale

Using economies of scale can reduce your mold cost significantly. Using the same mold tool for a larger quantity of parts will reduce the price per part and amortize the upfront design cost. For example, Protolabs can manufacture up to 25,000 parts with a single mold. This allows for a more cost-efficient mold and lower total cost of ownership.

While using economies of scale can be helpful, it is still important to know the price range and stick to it. This will help ensure that you are not wasting money on excess inventory, and ensure you meet deadlines. Additionally, a professional injection mold contractor will ensure you get exactly what you need at the right price.

Injection molding costs vary significantly by country. In the US, steel for tooling costs about an order of magnitude more than in China. Therefore, a custom injection mold built in the US will be less expensive and will require less maintenance. Moreover, custom high-volume molding is still a better option than 3D printing.

If you are manufacturing thousands of parts, injection molding is the most cost-effective option. Using economies of scale to reduce your injection molding cost can save you a large amount of money. There are several factors that affect your mold cost. One of these is the amount of time needed to produce the mold tool. If your mold contains complex geometry, it will require more time to produce.

Another way to reduce your mold cost is to use the same mold for multiple molding projects. If the parts are made of the same plastic, have similar processing time and size, and fit the same mold cavity, you can reuse the mold for multiple purposes.

Reducing cycle times

Improving the consistency of materials and processes can greatly reduce cycle times. For example, resin suppliers recommend that the melt flow from a single lot be uniform to avoid making time-consuming process adjustments. In addition, switching to higher-flow resins can also help speed up the cycle. This is because the higher-flow resins can be run at lower temperatures and can reach eject temperatures faster.

Another way to reduce cycle time is to build lighter-weight components. This can be done by building lighter parts with thicker sprues, or by using a higher-flow resin. Other methods include using ribs to support heavy sections and lean fibs to reduce wall thickness. Some companies claim that their tools can reduce cycle times by as much as 30 percent with a single part with a one-mm wall thickness.

Another effective way to reduce your injection mold cost is to make your parts more efficient. By reducing the cycle time, you can increase the number of parts produced per hour. This will reduce your labor costs and increase your profits. You can even reduce your energy costs by eliminating a few seconds from each cycle.

When it comes to tooling, the cost of an injection mold depends on several factors. These factors include the complexity of the product, the volume of production, the process used to make the mold, and the material used. The most common process for making injection molds is CNC machining. CNC machining uses high-speed rotary cutting tools to shape and create mold.

Another way to reduce the cost of your injection mold is to reduce the complexity of your parts. Complex features can result in high material costs and longer cycle times. It’s better to reduce the complexity of your parts by making them simple. In addition, you can reduce your cycle times by eliminating features that are not necessary.